Observations of Blue Discharges Associated With Negative Narrow Bipolar Events in Active Deep Convection

Abstract On 19 August 2012, the Imager of Sprites and Upper Atmospheric Lightning on board the FORMOSAT‐2 satellite captured a sequence of seven blue discharges within 1 min that emanated from a parent thunderstorm over Lake Taihu in East China. The analysis of lightning activity produced in the thu...

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Main Authors: Feifan Liu, Baoyou Zhu, Gaopeng Lu, Zilong Qin, Jiuhou Lei, Kang‐Ming Peng, Alfred B. Chen, Anjing Huang, Steven A. Cummer, Mingli Chen, Ming Ma, Fanchao Lyu, Helin Zhou
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2018-03-01
Series:Geophysical Research Letters
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Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1002/2017GL076207
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author Feifan Liu
Baoyou Zhu
Gaopeng Lu
Zilong Qin
Jiuhou Lei
Kang‐Ming Peng
Alfred B. Chen
Anjing Huang
Steven A. Cummer
Mingli Chen
Ming Ma
Fanchao Lyu
Helin Zhou
author_facet Feifan Liu
Baoyou Zhu
Gaopeng Lu
Zilong Qin
Jiuhou Lei
Kang‐Ming Peng
Alfred B. Chen
Anjing Huang
Steven A. Cummer
Mingli Chen
Ming Ma
Fanchao Lyu
Helin Zhou
author_sort Feifan Liu
collection DOAJ
description Abstract On 19 August 2012, the Imager of Sprites and Upper Atmospheric Lightning on board the FORMOSAT‐2 satellite captured a sequence of seven blue discharges within 1 min that emanated from a parent thunderstorm over Lake Taihu in East China. The analysis of lightning activity produced in the thunderstorm indicates that at least six of these events occurred in association with negative narrow bipolar events (NBEs) that were concurrent with the blue discharge by less than 1 ms, and negative cloud‐to‐ground occurred within 6 s before each blue discharge, which is in agreement with the modeling presented by Krehbiel et al. (2008). Therefore, the frequent occurrence of negative cloud‐to‐ground could provide the favorable condition for the production of blue discharges, and negative NBEs are probably the initial event of blue discharges. The detection of negative NBEs might provide a convenient approach to detect the occurrence of blue discharges as lightning bolt shooting upward from the top of energetic thunderstorms.
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series Geophysical Research Letters
spelling doaj-art-e1ef89c9a7184d758d32b97b53fcdea02024-12-20T12:14:58ZengWileyGeophysical Research Letters0094-82761944-80072018-03-014562842285110.1002/2017GL076207Observations of Blue Discharges Associated With Negative Narrow Bipolar Events in Active Deep ConvectionFeifan Liu0Baoyou Zhu1Gaopeng Lu2Zilong Qin3Jiuhou Lei4Kang‐Ming Peng5Alfred B. Chen6Anjing Huang7Steven A. Cummer8Mingli Chen9Ming Ma10Fanchao Lyu11Helin Zhou12CAS Key Laboratory of Geospace Environment, School of Earth and Space Sciences University of Science and Technology of China Hefei ChinaCAS Key Laboratory of Geospace Environment, School of Earth and Space Sciences University of Science and Technology of China Hefei ChinaKey Laboratory of Middle Atmosphere and Global Environment Observation, Institute of Atmospheric Physics Chinese Academy of Sciences Beijing ChinaDepartment of Building Service Engineering Hong Kong Polytechnic University Hong KongCAS Key Laboratory of Geospace Environment, School of Earth and Space Sciences University of Science and Technology of China Hefei ChinaDepartment of Physics National Cheng Kung University Tainan TaiwanInstitute of Space and Plasma Sciences National Cheng Kung University Tainan TaiwanKey Laboratory of Middle Atmosphere and Global Environment Observation, Institute of Atmospheric Physics Chinese Academy of Sciences Beijing ChinaElectrical and Computer Engineering Department Duke University Durham NC USADepartment of Building Service Engineering Hong Kong Polytechnic University Hong KongCAS Key Laboratory of Geospace Environment, School of Earth and Space Sciences University of Science and Technology of China Hefei ChinaElectrical and Computer Engineering Department Duke University Durham NC USAABB AB HVDC Ludvika SwedenAbstract On 19 August 2012, the Imager of Sprites and Upper Atmospheric Lightning on board the FORMOSAT‐2 satellite captured a sequence of seven blue discharges within 1 min that emanated from a parent thunderstorm over Lake Taihu in East China. The analysis of lightning activity produced in the thunderstorm indicates that at least six of these events occurred in association with negative narrow bipolar events (NBEs) that were concurrent with the blue discharge by less than 1 ms, and negative cloud‐to‐ground occurred within 6 s before each blue discharge, which is in agreement with the modeling presented by Krehbiel et al. (2008). Therefore, the frequent occurrence of negative cloud‐to‐ground could provide the favorable condition for the production of blue discharges, and negative NBEs are probably the initial event of blue discharges. The detection of negative NBEs might provide a convenient approach to detect the occurrence of blue discharges as lightning bolt shooting upward from the top of energetic thunderstorms.https://doi.org/10.1002/2017GL076207blue dischargesnarrow bipolar events (NBEs)deep convectionthunderstorm
spellingShingle Feifan Liu
Baoyou Zhu
Gaopeng Lu
Zilong Qin
Jiuhou Lei
Kang‐Ming Peng
Alfred B. Chen
Anjing Huang
Steven A. Cummer
Mingli Chen
Ming Ma
Fanchao Lyu
Helin Zhou
Observations of Blue Discharges Associated With Negative Narrow Bipolar Events in Active Deep Convection
Geophysical Research Letters
blue discharges
narrow bipolar events (NBEs)
deep convection
thunderstorm
title Observations of Blue Discharges Associated With Negative Narrow Bipolar Events in Active Deep Convection
title_full Observations of Blue Discharges Associated With Negative Narrow Bipolar Events in Active Deep Convection
title_fullStr Observations of Blue Discharges Associated With Negative Narrow Bipolar Events in Active Deep Convection
title_full_unstemmed Observations of Blue Discharges Associated With Negative Narrow Bipolar Events in Active Deep Convection
title_short Observations of Blue Discharges Associated With Negative Narrow Bipolar Events in Active Deep Convection
title_sort observations of blue discharges associated with negative narrow bipolar events in active deep convection
topic blue discharges
narrow bipolar events (NBEs)
deep convection
thunderstorm
url https://doi.org/10.1002/2017GL076207
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